Certain beverage preparation machines use capsules containing ingredients to be extracted or to be dissolved; for other machines, the ingredients are stored and dosed automatically in the machine or else are added at the time of preparation of the drink.
Most coffee machines possess filling means that include a pump for liquid, usually water, which pumps the liquid from a source of water that is cold or indeed heated through heating means, such as a heating resistor, a thermoblock or the like.
Such machine typically have a brewing unit for holding and extraction the beverage ingredient. To introduce the ingredient into the brewing unit and then remove the ingredient upon use, the brewing unit has a closure mechanism that may be driven by a handle that is operable by a user. Various configurations for manipulating the machine have been disclosed in the art.
EP 1 208 782 discloses a coffee machine having a main body including a brewing unit for extracting coffee capsules. The brewing unit is opened and closed with the aid of a handle that can be turned over the main body by an angle of about a 180 deg. from behind to the front of the main body. The handle has a pair of generally L-shaped levers connected at one end by a hand-drivable transverse rod and pivotally mounted at the opposite end to the opening and closing mechanism of the brewing unit. The pivotable L-shaped levers drive a movable part of the brewing unit via a pair of intermediate levers connected at a first end to this movable brewing unit part and at a second end to the corner of the L-shaped levers. US 2008/0006159, U.S. Pat. No. 7,165,488, WO 2007/111884 and EP 1 829 469 disclose further beverage machines having a brewing unit that can be opened and closed manually by a handle.
More recently, efforts have been specifically devoted to the ease of operation of a beverage preparation machine for a user and ergonomic configuration of such machines, as illustrated in the following documents.
EP 1 878 368 discloses a beverage machine having a functional block that is rotatably mounted on a support base. The functional block can be designed to be removable from the support base. EP 1 864 598 discloses an autonomous beverage machine that can be mounted onto a docking station. The beverage machine is arranged to be operable whether connected to the docking station or disconnected therefrom. WO 2009/074553 and WO 2010/015427 disclose beverage preparation machines that are configured so that they can be lifted single-handed.
For allowing the user to control machine operation various systems have been disclosed in the art, for instance as mentioned in the following references: AT 410 377, CH 682 798, DE 44 29 353, DE 202 00 419, DE 20 2006 019 039, DE 2007 008 590, EP 1 448 084, EP 1 676 509, EP 08155851.2, FR 2 624 844, GB 2 397 510, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,377,049, 4,458,735, 4,554,419, 4,767,632, 4,954,697, 5,312,020, 5,335,705, 5,372,061, 5,375,508, 5,731,981, 5,645,230, 5,836,236, 5,959,869, 6,182,555, 6,354,341, 6,759,072, US 2007/0157820, WO 97/25634, WO99/50172, WO 2004/030435, WO 2004/030438, WO 2006/063645, WO 2006/090183, WO 2007/003062, WO 2007/003990, WO 2008/104751, WO 2008/138710, WO 2008/138820, WO 2009/135821, WO 2010/003932 and WO 2010/037806.
DE 20 2006 019 039, AT 410 377, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,377,049, 4,554,419, 4,954,697, 5,685,435, 6,759,072, 6,182,555, WO 2004/030438, WO 2006/090183, WO 2007/003990 WO 2008/138710 and WO 2010/003932 disclose beverage dispensing machines with a generally upright front face having a lower open cavity for receiving a receptacle to be filled via a beverage outlet in the cavity and, on an upper part of the front face, above the opening of this cavity, a generally vertical upper screen, touch screen and/or touch pad arranged as a user-interface. FR 2 624 844 discloses a beverage dispenser having a front face with an open cavity for filling a receptacle and a micro-computer with a keyboard and a monitor housed in the machine's front face next to the cavity opening. More advanced user-interface systems may include user-movable laser pointers for setting a level of fill directly on a user-cup, as taught in WO 2006/063645, or a sensor for acquiring the position of a finger or a user-operated object pointing onto a desired level of fill on a cup, as disclosed in WO 2009/135821, and filling automatically the cup to such a level.
In the field of coffee machines, in particular coffee machines using ground coffee capsules, it is well known to provide a user-interface with a first button for requesting the dispensing of ristretto-size or espresso-size coffee and a second button for requesting the dispensing or regular-size or lungo-size coffee. The beverage volumes associated with each of the two buttons may usually be re-programmed by a user to fit his or her individual preferences.
WO 2010/037806 discloses a coffee machine with an ergonomic toggle-switch movable from a neutral point into two positions for the user to select between a small cup and a large cup. The dispensed beverage volume associated with each position can be programmed by a user. An auxiliary wheel selector is provided for entering and leaving the programming mode. In the programming mode, the toggle-switch is brought by the user into the position to be reprogrammed which initiates dispensing of the beverage. The user maintains the toggle switch in this position until the desired volume is reached, which is then stored as the new volume associated with this position of the toggle-switch. Each time the volume associated with a position of the toggle-switch is changed, the user has to re-enter the programming mode. With such a system a user may easily adjust the dispensed volumes in line with his preferences. However, when several users use the same machines, they have to agree on the dispensed volumes or reprogram the machine regularly or enter a manual dispensing mode.